


Stony Kiss Challenge

by S_Horne



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Arguing, Attempt at Humor, Domestic Fluff, Ficlet Collection, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Getting Together, Hanahaki Disease, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Fic, Kid Peter Parker, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Married Life, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Past Child Abuse, Requited Unrequited Love, Sleepy Kisses, Superfamily, Team as Family, Unrequited Love, Wedding Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-31 20:46:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 17,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15127499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S_Horne/pseuds/S_Horne
Summary: Steve closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Tony’s sweetly, lips touching for just a moment before he pulled away./Keeping his smile firmly in place, Steve rose just enough to lean over and drop a kiss onto Tony’s forehead, a light brush of his lips aginst tanned skin./They found that they were both smiling so widely that their lips could barely touch, mouths open wide as they laughed in pure happiness./This will be a collection of short kisses between Steve and Tony; a new one each day for the whole month of July.





	1. Good morning

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote a list of different kisses for Steve and Tony and I will post one a day. Some will be short, some will be slightly longer, some will be funny and some will be sad(ish). There will be superfamily, arguments and weddings, tears, emotions and fluff!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“Ungh.”

Steve hid a chuckle at the low groan of displeasure that came from the bed. He had only flicked on the bathroom light and left the door slightly open, but even that had apparently been too much for Tony.

“Off. Turn it off.”

Steve’s smile grew as he shut the drawer at the bottom of the wardrobe as quietly as he could. “Sorry, sweetheart,” he said apologetically, “but I’ve gotta get to work.”

“No,” Tony whined lowly and rolled over in the bed to bury his head into Steve’s pillow. “S’too early.”

Steve shook his head in amusement as he walked into the en-suite. “It’s 8.30, Tony. Go back to sleep – I’ll be done soon.”

Tony must have listened because he jolted violently when Steve reopened the door from the bathroom, light flooding in again and warm steam from the shower following. Steve approached the bed and lightly ran a hand over Tony’s adorable bed hair, smiling down at him when Tony blinked sleepily.

“I’m off now. Have a good day, sweetheart.”

“Mm,” was the only word that Tony could manage as he shimmied up the bed until his whole face appeared from under the comforter. “Kiss.”

Steve smiled widely and leant forward until he could press their lips together. It was nothing more than a brush of lips; just a light touch that somehow managed to hold so much.

“Love you,” Tony murmured when they broke apart, his lips moving against Steve’s.

A sleepy Tony was hard to drag himself away from, but Steve really had to go. He sighed as he pulled his hand away from Tony’s hair and bent down to press a kiss there instead before he stood up. “I love you, too, sweetheart. Now, go back to sleep.”

 


	2. 'I missed you'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He gripped Steve’s shirt even tighter in his fists, pulling his husband impossibly closer to him as he groaned loudly when Steve’s tongue tangled with his. How could Tony have gone without Steve’s touch for so long; gone without the taste of Steve on his lips?

It had been too long.

It had been _far_ too long without Steve’s lips on his. Tony was never doing this again; he was never going anywhere without his husband again – not even for one _single_ day. How could he have been so stupid as to actually agree to leave this embrace, leave the arms that cradled him so perfectly and leave the hands that held him so tenderly?

He gripped Steve’s shirt even tighter in his fists, pulling his husband impossibly closer to him as he groaned loudly when Steve’s tongue tangled with his. How could Tony have gone without Steve’s touch for so long; gone without the _taste_ of Steve on his lips?

“Don’t ever leave me again.”

Tony whimpered at the loss of Steve against his mouth, but the low throaty hush of Steve’s voice was enough to soothe his displeasure, especially when it was saying those words. He opened his mouth to make that promise when Steve surged forward again and took his lips, his own slotting against Tony’s like a last piece of a perfectly crafted jigsaw puzzle. Giving in happily, Tony sighed and settled back into the kiss. Who needed words anyway?

Not him; not when he had Steve pressed against him from head to toe and his hands roaming across every inch of exposed skin as their tongues dipped and danced in perfect unison.

Tony was an idiot.

An idiot who was _never_ leaving again. He’d seen the error of his ways, business trips be damned. The company could burn to the ground, as long as Tony had Steve.


	3. 'We just had a baby'

Steve was in awe. Absolute, wondrous _awe_. In his arms he held the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. It was as if his entire life had been building to this moment, as though his heart had just been longing to be filled. He loved his husband, sure, more than words could say, even, but this… Wow. This was a love unlike any other Steve had ever known. 

As he stared down at the tiny bundle in his grasp the child snuffled softly in his sleep, his tiny mouth opening in the cutest yawn Steve had ever seen. He couldn’t believe this was his. This tiny little boy was his _son_. 

Who would have ever thought? Not Steve, that was for sure. He had never pictured himself as the family man, but now that it was here… It was perfect.

Steve turned when he heard someone approaching him from behind, face automatically breaking into a smile when he recognised his husband’s scent.

“I got the seat in the car,” Tony said as he drew near. “Damn near broke my hand and my foot, – please don’t ask – but it’s in. Never coming out again, mind you. When he gets too old for the thing we’re just gonna have to get rid of the car if we need a new seat.”

Steve laughed lightly and shook his head slightly. “Thanks, sweetheart. You want to take him?”

Tony’s face lit up and his arms were raised into a ready and waiting hold before Steve had even finished asking the question. Steve grinned and very carefully placed their son into his husband’s arms, shifting him until he was perfectly settled. 

 _God_. What a sight was that. Sure, they’d had months to think about it and get used to it, but actually seeing Tony hold their child? It was incredible and nothing on the planet, or any other planet for that matter, could have prepared Steve. 

Tony’s eyes were locked on the little boy’s face as though committing every tiny feature to memory, a heartbreakingly soft smile on his face as he stared down.

“Peter Stark-Rogers,” Tony whispered and Steve couldn’t have stopped his heart from skipping if he’d have been paid actual money. 

He leant forward and placed a kiss to Peter’s forehead, making a soft shushing sound when the boy screwed up his face in discomfort, before he turned to his husband. “We did it,” he breathed out and Tony’s eyes finally looked up to his. 

“We did,” he agreed almost reverently before he gave a cheeky grin. “Can’t take it back now.”

Steve closed the gap between them and pressed his lips to Tony’s sweetly, lips touching for just a moment before he pulled away. “Nope. And we’ve got the car seat to prove it.”

 


	4. Wall Kisses

Tony groaned as his head smacked hard against the wall, which quickly turned into a whine when Steve pulled away from his embrace.

“I’m sorry–,” was as far as Steve got before Tony reeled him back in and connected their lips once more. The loss of his ability to speak because of the kiss forced Steve to apologise in a new way. He lifted his hands from Tony’s waist and cupped the back of his head instead, stoking over the bump that was blossoming from hitting the wall. The gentle touch was in total contrast to the filthy was he was grinding against Tony and how his tongue was plunging into Tony’s mouth desperately, licking against the roof of Tony’s mouth and tasting every inch of the other man.

Tony gripped the back of Steve’s shirt and pulled him even closer as he gave up control willingly, slipping his knee in between both of Steve’s. Positioning Steve exactly where he wanted him, Tony urged him down so that he was almost riding Tony’s leg. Steve moaned loudly and he turned his head to gasp for air, yelling out as Tony slid his hands down to slip into Steve’s back pockets and sucked a bruise into the column of Steve’s throat.

“Tony,” Steve all but begged, the single word sounding like a curse and a prayer all at once, “Tony, more.”

Tony loved how broken Steve sounded already, but kept his mouth working on Steve’s throat. His own voice was no doubt wrecked too and he wanted to hold onto some semblance of control until they had at least moved out of the communal area. It was Tony’s turn to groan when Steve curved his head and reconnected their lips, the kiss deepening immediately before either of them had a chance to catch their breath.

 


	5. Goodnight kiss

Bed. Tony needed his bed. He needed sleep and pillows and his bed and  _Steve_.

Normally Tony loved to be busy, but the last few days had been crazy even by  _his_  standards. All he wanted to do was to crawl into his bed and stay there for _ever_.

His eyes were nearly shut by the time that he finally closed down all of his projects, sent the relevant pieces to the relevant people and made it up to his bedroom. He forewent cleaning his teeth and changing into pyjamas, just keeping enough brain power to pull off his jeans before he collapsed face first onto the bed.

There was a light huff of laughter from the other side of the bed and Tony managed to lift his head just enough to squint up at Steve. His husband was sitting propped up against his pillows with a book resting open on his chest. The bedside lamp beside him was casting a soft glow around his figure and his sleep shirt looked deliciously soft, so much so that Tony couldn’t have resisted shuffling over to rest his head on Steve’s stomach if his life had depended on it.

Tony sighed deeply and let out a soft mew as Steve’s hand automatically lifted to card through Tony’s messy hair.

“Good to see you in bed, sweetheart.” Steve’s voice was like melted butter and Tony’s eyes fluttered shut as the last bits of tension slipped away from his shoulders and his neck and his chest. “I’ve missed you.”

Tony made a noise of agreement, turning his head to nuzzle even closer. “Mm,” he murmured almost unintelligibly, “was busy.”

“I know.” Tony whined as Steve shifted to flick off the lamp and them shimmied down the bed, jostling Tony uncomfortably. As soon as Steve stopped moving, Tony cuddled back into him, letting Steve reposition them both so that Tony’s head was now on his chest and their arms were wrapped around each other. “I know you were, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t miss you.”

“Missed you too,” Tony promised around a yawn, eyes still closed and hands losing their grip on Steve’s shirt. “Stupid projects. Stupid people. Stupid company.”

Steve laughed softly as he hooked his fingers under Tony’s chin and lifted his head. “You don’t mean that, Tony. You love that company.”

“Hmph,” Tony disagreed, “I love you.”

“And I love you.” Steve closed the gap between them and caught Tony’s lips in a sweet kiss, breaths mingling as they stayed there for a long and peaceful moment. “Now, sleep.”


	6. Talking between kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for your comments - I swear I'll get round to replying to them, but please know they mean so much to me.

“I’ve missed you.” Steve’s words were slurred against Tony’s lips and Tony laughed as he tried to press even closer into the kiss despite replying to Steve’s comment.

“I missed you, too.”

Steve grinned into the kiss, arms wrapping around Tony’s waist and lips parting to deepen the embrace a little.

“How was your day?” The tail end of Steve’s question turned into a groan as Tony tugged him closer and snuck his hands into the back pockets of Steve’s pants.

“It was good,” Tony replied, the words a little garbled as Steve slid his tongue into his mouth. Neither of them spoke for a moment as their tongues battled, before Tony remembered what he had entered the room to say in the first place and reluctantly pulled away.

 “Mm, we need bread,” Tony said, which turned into a groan as Steve started dropping kisses down the column of his throat. He threw his head back in pleasure as he curled his fingers into Steve’s hair, “I forgot to get some on the way home earlier.”

Steve didn’t pause his kisses as he nodded his assent. “Do we need milk too?”

Tony hummed absentmindedly, “yeah, we do need milk, actually.”

Steve opened his mouth again before Tony rolled his eyes and grabbed Steve’s cheeks between his hands. “Oh, forget it. Just shut up and kiss me.”


	7. 'You're ridiculous'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I like this one)
> 
> (And I love the support I'm getting *blushes*)

Tony stopped short in the doorway to his lab and stared at the sight in front of him.

“What do you think?”

Tony blinked as he pondered Steve’s question. What  _did_  he think? Well to start with, Tony thought that his boyfriend had gone insane. Then, Tony thought that  _he_ had gone insane.

Or maybe he had stepped into an alternate universe? Unfortunately, that wasn’t such an unusual thing to have happened in their lives.

“It’s,” Tony started as Steve continued to stare at him expectantly, “it’s, um…  _What_  is it?”

“It’s DUM-E’s birthday,” Steve explained happily, his smile not wavering as he stared straight at Tony.

Ah. A birthday.

That explained the colourful party hats that DUM-E, U, and Steve were all wearing and the banners on the walls. It also explained the balloons in the corner and the giant cake sitting on Tony’s work bench. It  _even_ explained the streamers wrapped carefully around DUM-E’s wires, but what it did not explain was the pile of presents on the cot in the corner. Tony pointed at them, an eyebrow raised in a silent question and Steve blushed beautifully.

“DUM-E doesn’t really do presents –,” Steve started.

“Yeah,” Tony agreed, biting back a smile, “what with being a robot and all–”

“So,” Steve continued with a faux glare, “as you can’t have a party without presents, I bought these for you. And the rest of the team.”

Tony broke into a wide grin at Steve’s mumbled words and began walking across the room, stroking a hand over DUM-E’s arm and patting U gently as he passed them. “You’re ridiculous,” he told Steve as he drew nearer, even as his voice flooded with warmth. 

“I mean look at this!” Tony continued with a laugh, gesturing around the room. “If you do all of this for a robot, what are you gonna do for our child?” Steve turned to stare at him and Tony blanched, backtracking quickly. “Not that – it’s just, no…  _no._ I said  _‘a’,_  not; well. You know. Not –”

Steve beamed and reached out to wrap his arms around Tony’s waist now that he was close enough, pulling him into a loose embrace. “I think we will go overboard and spoil any child of  _ours_  rotten.”

“We?” Tony scoffed, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment but his eyes glistening wickedly as he locked them onto Steve’s. “There is no ‘we’ in this situation.”

“Oh really?” Steve lifted an eyebrow, smile wide and voice happy. “Which one of us was it that made pancakes last week for Lucky?”

“He was a guest! We were all having pancakes on Saturday morning,” Tony said in defence of his actions, “he would have felt left out!”

“Now who’s being ridiculous?” Steve asked with another laugh. “Making pancakes for a dog is a lot weirder than throwing a birthday party for a robot.”

Tony didn’t bother to reply; he just lifted his hands to Steve’s shoulders and pulled him in close, kissing him soundly. The kiss went on and on and on as their lips danced together contentedly. Tony’s thumb stroked over the sensitive skin of Steve’s pulse point, feeling it beat beneath his finger as he focused on the sweep of Steve’s tongue against his lip. When they finally broke apart Tony smiled happily, leaning in to bestow another short kiss to Steve’s lips before he pulled back and took his partner’s hand. 

“Come on then, you ridiculous, gorgeous man,” he said as he turned back to his bots, “let’s have a party.”

 


	8. Wedding kiss

Kissing Steve was the most natural thing in the world for Tony. It was as easy as breathing, as simple as a heartbeat. Tony didn’t even think twice about it anymore; he just automatically gravitated towards Steve whenever they were in the same room.

That was why it was so funny that such an important kiss in their lives could barely even qualify as one.

They had both been waiting for years for this kiss, been building up to it for months now. It had taken them years of blood, sweat and tears, – literal as well as metaphorical, – but they’d done it. They had finally done it.

Steve Rogers no longer existed, nor did Tony Stark. They were now Steve and Tony Stark-Rogers and neither of them could have been happier about it; hence the most important kiss of their lives didn’t count as one.

As soon as Sam – yes,  _Sam_ and wasn’t that insane – had told them that they could seal their marriage with a kiss, they had surged forward, Steve’s arms going around Tony’s waist and holding on tightly as Tony reached out and cupped the back of Steve’s head almost desperately.

They found that they were both smiling so widely that their lips could barely touch, their mouths open wide as they laughed in pure happiness. They couldn’t bite down on their joy long enough to share a short kiss, but it was enough.

It was perfect.


	9. Kiss in an argument

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this one really sucks because I had no inspiration at all and I hate it. Please don't give up on me though! (One of my faves is coming in a couple of days)

Tony groaned as Steve entered the room behind him, hot on his heels as he seethed.

“You’re never going to let it go, are you?” Tony asked as he span around, the dining table between them as a shield.

“No!” Steve said loudly, glaring over at Tony as he crossed his arms over his chest. “No, I am not!”

“It’s not that big of a deal!”

“Not that big of a deal?” Steve repeated incredulously, voice shocked and eyes wide, “not that big of a deal? You told the world where you lived and you ended up being literally _blown up._ ”

“Yeah, but I didn’t die. That’s good, right?”

“That is not a good enough of an outcome!” Steve yelled, arms unfolding and flailing out in anger. “You have to be more responsible!”

“Seriously, what the… How did we even get here?”

“Because you’re an asshole!”

“I know!” Tony yelled back immediately, “but that still doesn’t explain how we got to _this_ argument.”

“You need to take better care of yourself!”

“I’m so confused.” Tony dropped his head down onto the table in front of him with a loud bang and mumbled into it. “What is happening?” He lifted his head back up and stared at Steve who was standing in front of him, visibly seething which his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “What did I do this time? I honestly don’t remember.”

“You told a terrorist where you lived! And he blew you up!”

“ _Seven years ago_!” Tony stood back up and walked around the table to Steve until they were nearly nose to nose. “Come on, Steve. What the hell? Why are we fighting about this now?”

“Because I didn’t know!”

“Didn’t know what?” Tony yelled back. “Steve, you weren’t even _around_ then. This was years ago. What the hell… Oh, I am so confused,” he repeated, his voice dropping down into a whine as he threw his head back and rubbed at his eyes.

“I didn’t know that I loved you then!”

“What? Wait, what?” Tony’s mouth opened and closed a few times as he stared at Steve in utter shock. “Oh. Right,” he paused and shook his head. “No, seriously; what?”

“You need to take more care of yourself,” Steve said sincerely. “Today, I…”

Tony sighed as the pieces fell into place. Of course.

They had all been in a battle that afternoon and Tony had taken some stupid risks without doing the correct and necessary calculations. He had had a matter of minutes to make his decision before he’d needed to jump. It had paid off though and it was only Tony that had ended up being caught in the crossfire. He’d escaped from medical pretty easily and had just been waiting until Steve had found him to chew him out.

He really hadn’t been expecting _this_ sort of argument though.

“What?” Tony asked again when Steve faltered and closed his eyes with a shaky breath.

“You lock yourself away for hours and you don’t eat or sleep,” Steve finally said through clenched teeth. He opened his eyes and locked them onto Tony’s. “You take reckless risks in battle and almost sacrifice yourself because you think that you’re indispensable and that no one would miss you–”

“Well, yeah because–”

“No!” Steve cut Tony off with a loud shout. He slammed his hand down on the table as he spoke again, “no. You have to start being more responsible, please. You, no… I – you can’t take these crazy and stupid risks anymore; I can’t lose you.”

Tony’s eyes were glued to the way that Steve’s arm was shaking, his hand trembling where it lay clenched into a fist on the table top.

“Tony, please.”

It was Steve’s voice that really sealed it for Tony; the way that it cracked, low and throaty as Steve’s eyes betrayed his fear and his pleas. Something fluttered in Tony’s chest and something akin to a smile blossomed on his face.

He couldn’t remember the last time that someone _cared_ about him, cared enough to yell and scream at him about something that had happened years ago. Tony closed the gap between them in an instant, clutching at Steve’s shirt before the other man even knew what was happening and sealing his lips over Steve’s. The kiss grew deep in a single moment, their lips never parting as Steve licked into Tony’s mouth to tease out small whines that he swallowed eagerly. Their hands held the other so close, so tight, as though terrified that letting go would mean the end of the world.

Steve’s fingers dug into the bottom of Tony’s back as Tony bit down on Steve’s lower lip, everything falling into place perfectly. Sure, there were always going to be risks in their lives, but they had each other now and that was all they needed.  


	10. Building up to a first kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't forget! I was just busy, but I made it before midnight! 
> 
> Thanks for the support guys, you're all great and you're keeping me going.

As soon as Tony walked through the front door he was attacked by a rabid dog.

Well, no, okay, it wasn’t a  _rabid_  dog; it was Steve’s new puppy and it wasn’t so much an attack as it was a warm hug and a bunch of wet kisses. Tony fell to the floor with a grunt even as his arms came up to hug Prince to his chest. He laughed as Prince licked his face, pressing slobbering kisses to his cheeks and his chin.

And his nose.

And his forehead. Everywhere the dog could reach, really.

“Get off me, you daft mutt,” Tony groaned, contradicting his words by scratching Prince behind his ears, all the while grinning widely. “I was only gone for four days; you can’t have missed me that much.”

“I don’t know.” Tony looked up at the amused voice and couldn’t help the skip in his heart at the sight of Steve standing in the doorway, arms crossed and his hip leaning casually against the doorframe. “I missed you plenty and I don’t even get treats from you.”

“My presence is your treat,” Tony snapped back quickly, a playful smile dancing around his lips as Prince tried to squash himself onto Tony’s lap.

Steve threw his head back and he laughed loudly, crossing the room to offer a hand down to Tony. Tony took it gratefully and used it to pull himself up, pressing a kiss to Prince’s head at his disgruntled whine. “You really missed me?” Tony asked when he had straightened up, his eyes locked onto Steve’s.

“‘Course I did,” Steve replied easily. “There was no one to pester me into move night or no one to separate from a food fight with Clint.”

Tony laughed at that and shook his head. “Well, I’m sorry for the inconvenience. I won’t leave again.”

“You’d better not,” Steve said lightly, but sincerely, his answer quick off the mark as he stared straight at Tony. “And I’m a little offended that I didn’t get the first hug, too.”

Tony bit down the blush that threatened and aimed for a causal tone of voice when he replied with, “I had it planned that way, but unfortunately I was attacked as soon as I walked through the door. If you’d have jumped on me, you might have gotten it.”

The blush that Tony had tried to deny coloured his face when Steve laughed again and Tony realised how his words had sounded.

“I didn’t mean–,” he tried to say, before Steve took a step closer.

“Maybe not the jumping, but I should have done this…” Steve cut himself off when he leant in and closed the gap between them, his lips slotting against Tony’s perfectly.

As soon as their lips met, Tony melted into Steve’s touch and pulled him closer. It was just so natural that it was a wonder that they hadn’t done it before, their lips moulding together seamlessly and their breaths mingling warmly. It was nothing too deep, even as their lips parted and their tongues met softly, just enough to take a taste of the other man.

They had been dancing around ‘it’ for a few months, the two of them sharing dinners and going out for drinks that had quickly turned into more. There were movie nights where they binged rubbish films for hours, spending more time laughing at each other’s lame jokes than watching whatever was on the screen, and the urge to buy presents for each other whenever they went out of town had skyrocketed, leading to literal rooms filled with utter nonsense. 

Neither of them had been sure when it had turned into something else, whatever that something else could be defined as, but this was apparently the moment that was going to change it for the future.

And it was perfect.

 

(Even when Prince tried to join in and nearly knocked them both to the floor.)


	11. Goodbye kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all rule.
> 
> (Also, I like this one)

“Steve, have you seen my–”

Steve pointed to the kitchen counter without turning from the stove when Tony came barrelling through the door calling out to him.

“Brilliant,” Tony murmured as he grabbed his phone from the table. “And have you got–”

Steve lifted his hand up to his shoulder where Tony’s keys were hanging off of his finger, swinging casually as Steve flipped the pancakes in the pan expertly with his other hand.

Tony let out a huff of laughter and took them from Steve gratefully. “You’re amazing. I don’t suppose–”

This time Steve did turn from the counter and he pushed his hand into Tony’s blazer pocket, pulling out the man’s favourite pen and reading glasses with an amused smile.

Tony sighed longingly, eyes awed and adoring. “I love you. I just need one more thing–”

Steve cut Tony’s final request off by bending ever so slightly and catching his lips in a slow soft kiss. When they broke apart Tony sighed happily and smiled, eyes still closed as he savoured the moment. “Perfect.”


	12. After sex kisses

Rolling to his side and panting heavily, Tony collapsed onto his back on top of the bed and stared up at the ceiling in a daze.

“You broke me,” he managed to gasp out, chest heaving as he struggled to catch his breath. “I don’t think I’ll ever walk again.”

He jolted slightly when he opened his eyes to see Steve looming over him – he had most definitely not been there when Tony had closed his eyes on a blink just a second before. Steve grinned down at him unabashedly, eyes dancing as sweat quickly cooled on his naked body.

Tony allowed himself a minute to admire that before; “no,” he chided himself and shook his head. “Don’t distract me with your perfect muscles. I’m mad at you.”

Steve rolled his eyes and shifted his weight onto one arm as he wiped Tony’s hair from his sticky forehead. “I didn’t hear you complaining, sweetheart.”

“I wasn’t _then_ ,” Tony pouted dramatically, “but I am _now._ I have a meeting tomorrow and I won’t be able to sit down.”

Steve laughed and bent down to catch Tony’s lips with his own, the kiss slightly more PG than the ones they had shared just a few minutes before, but it was no less passionate. When they broke apart, Steve gave another wolfish grin and hopped off the bed.

“I’m sorry,” he called over his shoulder and it was then Tony’s turn to roll his eyes as he settled down into his pillows.

“No, you’re not,” Tony replied and chuckled when Steve stuck his head around the bathroom doorframe with a boyish grin, looking far too proud of himself.

“No,” Steve agreed, “I’m not.”

 


	13. Kisses in the rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the support, guys. You're making me smile so much.

It was the worst kind of cliché. He and Steve had had some big argument that he couldn’t even remember now. Tony remembered storming out, though. He remembered the anger coursing through his veins and the hot tears that pricked at his eyes. It had been raining when he’d slammed the door behind him, but he hadn’t gone back in for a coat.

He shivered again, the cold rain hitting his skin and plastering his hair down to his head.

Just as Tony kicked his already-soaking shoes through an almost knee-deep puddle, a loud voice suddenly called out his name and he whirled around to see Steve running down the street towards him. As he drew near, Tony blinked rain drops out of his eyes to look up at Steve. The man was soaked; his hair dripping down his face and his clothes almost see-through as he scrubbed at his face.

“Steve? What–”

Tony’s question was cut off as Steve reached out and took his face between both of his hands, pressing their lips together in a cold but wonderful kiss. Both their lips parted immediately and Tony lifted his arms to clutch at Steve’s back, pulling him ever closer as he tried to absorb his warmth. Steve’s hands cupped his cheeks, the touch freezing but oh so good. It was a soft kiss, tongues not touching as their lips danced together. It was about comfort, reassurance and promises, forgiveness and forgetting.

Finally they broke the kiss, but neither man moved away, their foreheads pressing together as they held the other tightly, breaths coming quickly and teeth chattering.

“Come home,” Steve breathed and it didn’t take more than a second for Tony to agree hastily, taking Steve’s lips once more before he needed to ask again. 


	14. Christmas kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I nearly didn't post this because of fandom drama, but then I realised that it's not your faults and I want people to still enjoy these! We have to keep going and ignore the silly people.
> 
> Also, I'm aware it's not Christmas or close to it, but I like toddler Peter and it was totally self indulgent.

Tony didn’t want to move; where he was was utterly perfect. He was sprawled across one of the large couches in the living room, opposite the huge Christmas tree – possibly big enough to compete with the one in the Rockefeller centre – and surrounded by the scents of coffee and cinnamon and the sounds of classic Christmas songs coming through the speakers of the television. He was wonderfully warm in his hand-knitted jumped – adorned with reindeer, thank you very much – and was already grinning at the thought of seeing Steve in his matching one.

Tony had grumbled and groaned when Steve woke him up at the ass crack of dawn, but he was glad for it now. This moment was so peaceful.

Steve entered the living room just as Tony’s eyes were slipping shut once more and he nudged Tony with his foot, laughing when Tony jolted awake comically.

“You’re a terrible husband,” he told Steve with a pout.

“Oh,” Steve said as he placed his tray on the coffee table and held out a steaming mug, “I guess you don’t want cinnamon waffles and a peppermint mocha?”

Tony’s face lit up and he grabbed the mug from Steve, “I take it back; you’re the best. The best husband in the world, honey. You’re great. Amazing. _Perfect_ , even.”

Steve laughed and settled on the couch next to Tony, leaning into him. “Yeah, yeah. I know you only want the food.” Tony blinked at Steve faux-innocently and Steve smiled broadly. “Merry Christmas, sweetheart.”

Tony returned the smile as he leant in close. “Merry Christmas, Steve.” Their lips met in a sweet kiss, the two of them pressed together for a long moment. It was a familiar touch, one they had perfected over the years. When they broke apart, Tony rested his forehead on Steve’s.

“I almost wish we could stay like this forever,” Tony said quietly.

“Me too,” Steve replied, “but I’d say we only have about 10 more minutes.”

Tony nodded and smothered a yawn behind his hand, finally pulling back to take a long sip of his drink. “I’m surprised he’s not in already.”

“The way that Bucky and Clint were riling him up last night, he might just sleep through the whole day.”

Just as Tony opened his mouth to reply, they heard a delighted cry and the tell-tale patter of small feet making their way down the hall.

“Or not,” Steve grinned. It was barely more than a few seconds before Peter barrelled into the living room, a rosy-cheeked Santa smiling out from his pyjama shirt making the child’s own expression.

“Merry Christma’,” he all but squealed as he ran straight over to Steve. He threw his arms around Steve’s legs and grinned up at him from his knees. “It’s Christma’, Papa!” he cried before he moved onto Tony, who quickly passed his mug to Steve.

“Merry Christmas, munchkin,” Tony said as he scooped Peter up to sit in his lap. “Ready for breakfast?”

Peter nodded enthusiastically and leant back against Tony’s chest, accepting Tony’s soothing touch as the man ran his hands though Peter’s messy hair. “Yes, please. But don’t we hafta wait for ever’one else?”

Steve laughed as he shuffled forward to grab the plates that he had brought in earlier. “It’s 5 am, Peter-Pan; I don’t think they’re gonna be up for a while yet.”

Peter didn’t seem in the least bit put out by Tony’s yawn or the roll of his eyes as he settled back more securely into Tony’s hold and took the plat of waffles that Steve handed to him with a sweet smile. “Thank you.”

Steve dropped a kiss to the top of Peter’s head as he handed Tony the next plate. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

Tony smiled as Peter began to eat enthusiastically, albeit tiredly, and drank in the sight before him. With the house being as full of people as it was, there were presents everywhere, piles of brightly coloured parcels spilling out from beneath the tree, and cards on almost every flat surface available.

Tony had never really been that big on Christmas; growing up as an only child in a mansion with his parents away on business most of the time made him pretty much nonplussed about family occasions, but this one was different.

His son on his lap and his husband at his side, their closest friends just a few floors down to join them later… it was perfect.


	15. Kiss after an argument

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you *again* for all of your continued support <3<3

Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed when Tony walked in quietly. There was no acknowledgment of Tony’s presence other than the tightening of Steve’s shoulders, but Tony didn’t care. He held his head up high and stalked into the en suite, only stopping once to grab his sleep clothes from the bed. Tony went through the motions quickly, too tired to spend a great amount of time in the bathroom. When he opened the door, the bedroom was dark; Steve had turned off all of the lights and was now pretending to be asleep. Tony rolled his eyes as he flicked the switch to the bathroom light and navigated around the bedroom from memory. He let out a deep sigh of relief as he fell onto the bed and rolled over to fall into a deeply-needed sleep.

/

Letting out yet another loud groan, Tony rolled over so that he was facing Steve’s shoulder blade instead of the wall. Just as he was about to open his mouth, his husband rolled over too. Tony could roughly make out Steve’s face in the low light and, as angry as he still was, it settled something inside of him.

“Can’t sleep either?” Steve asked softly.

“No,” Tony admitted. He paused, his lip caught between his teeth as he chewed thoughtfully. “Are you still mad at me?”

“Furious,” Steve replied, though his lips quirked a little and his eyes weren’t half as angry as they had been that afternoon in the height of their row.

Tony allowed himself a half-smile at that as the tightness in his chest loosened a little more, despite his words. “Yeah, well, I’m still mad at you too.”

Steve rolled his eyes, but lifted a hand to find Tony’s on top of the comforter. “How about we agree to disagree on this one?” Steve offered.

Tony twisted his fingers between Steve’s. “Talk over breakfast?”

Steve smiled and shuffled forward just enough to press his lips to Tony’s. A soft touch, one that was about comfort instead of passion, but it was enough and it soothed Tony from his head to his toes.

“That sounds good to me. Now,” Steve leant back again and tugged at Tony until he was pressed flush against his side, “let’s get some sleep.”

“I still love you,” Tony murmured into the darkness as his eyes slipped closed and he smiled when he felt a kiss dropped to the top of his head.

“No matter how mad I am,” Steve promised quietly, “I will always love you.”


	16. Tired and sleepy kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so contrary to its title, I made this one nice and angsty. Fluff shall ~~not~~ resume tomorrow! Definitely the next one though.  
>  (if there's a call for it I might fix this one)
> 
> Anyway, thank you again for sticking around. You're all _amazing_

“Tony, Tony…” Steve rolled his eyes as he crossed the lab, calling out for his friend. Tony was knee deep in a project, completely absorbed in whatever it was he was working on and ignoring the world around him – as per usual.

When he got close enough, Steve reached out and put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. He bit back a laugh when Tony jumped a mile into the air and whirled around, a hand clutched to his chest as he grabbed Steve’s arm.

“Don’t do that,” Tony cried on an exhale of breath. “I already have a heart condition; please don’t add to it.”

That time, Steve couldn’t hold his laugh in and let it ring out in the lab, not stopping even when Tony pouted up at him.

“You’re such a jerk,” Tony muttered, “I really have no idea why the world thinks you’re such an angel.”

Steve grinned widely and gave Tony a quick wink. “I am an angel, that’s why. An angel who has come to drag you out of your lair.”

“See,” Tony whined, “not an angel. An angel wouldn’t force me to do boring things.”

“Boring things like eating and sleeping?”

“Exactly!” Tony agreed. “Making me do rubbish like that when I could be inventing and having fun.”

Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed Tony when he tried to turn back to his work. “Oh, no you don’t,” he murmured, trapping Tony’s arms by his side and pulling him away. Tony struggled in Steve’s hold before a wide yawn ripped through him. His body went limp as a look of complete surprise blossomed on his face and Steve laughed again.

“See,” Steve said cheekily, “your body knows it even if your brain doesn’t.”

Tony sighed but ultimately resigned himself to his fate, waving at JARVIS to close down whatever projects he had open and allowing Steve to pull him over to the door. It didn’t take long for Steve to steer Tony into his bedroom once Tony let himself go, and it was easy to convince him into bed with promises of coffee and pancakes waiting for him in the morning.

Tony fell back with a loud moan and Steve laughed. “If you went to bed at a sensible hour, you wouldn’t be so tired.”

Tony just groaned into his pillow and Steve shook his head in amusement as he dropped down on the bed next to him. “Roll over,” Steve nudged Tony until he could pull the comforter up and over his legs, tucking it around his waist.

When Tony was settled, Steve sat back and smiled softly. “Goodnight, Tony.” As he made to stand up, Tony reached out and took his arm. Steve turned to look at him and lifted an eyebrow but before he could say anything else, Tony tugged him down and caught his lips.

Despite his shock, Steve couldn’t help but lean into the kiss and he parted his lips as he moaned softly into Tony’s mouth. The kiss was over almost as soon as it had begun and Tony pulled away with a small smile, his eyes still closed as he sighed contentedly.

“Night, Steve,” he murmured as he dropped back down onto the bed, curling around onto his side. “Love you.”

Steve sat there in utter shock as Tony fell asleep almost immediately, his words not seeming to have bothered him in the slightest. What had Tony just said? Had he really just…?

There was no way he could have said that. Did he mean to say that; was he thinking of someone else?

Steve _wanted_ Tony to say it, of course he did, but he wanted Tony to stay awake for it at least. He’d wanted to say it for the longest time, biting his tongue whenever Tony smiled that beautiful smile of his, or when he curled up on Steve’s shoulder in the middle of movie night, quietly protesting the bad science on the screen.

Steve had told himself to at least ask Tony on a date before he proposed marriage, but he always clammed up and chickened out. But now Tony had made the first move.

In the morning, Steve decided resolutely, his heard pounding wildly in his chest. He would wait until Tony woke up and confront him, kindly of course. He’d wake Tony up with a cup of strong coffee – with a small dash of milk – and homemade pancakes, – chocolate chips just like Tony loved – and then they’d share another sweet kiss.

And this one would have both parties awake.

A smile spread across Steve’s face; in the morning he would have everything he wanted.

/

Steve got up early, excitement coursing through him. He had barely slept as the kiss, short and as brief as it had been, had been on repeat in his head for hours and hours. The moment the sun had risen, Steve was up and in the kitchen, standing over the stove with a beaming smile to prepare Tony’s pancakes.

It wasn’t long before Tony wandered in, surprisingly, and the pcakcakes hadn’t finished cooking – the coffee was ready, though. Tony was smothering a wide yawn behind his hand as he stumbled towards the breakfast counter and he flopped onto a chair with a groan.

“Ugh, why do I always feel more tired when I wake up in a bed?”

Steve laughed as he turned around and just as he opened his mouth to answer, Tony looked up at him and carried on talking. “Incidentally, how _did_ I get into bed?”

“What?”

“I remember being in the lab,” Tony continued, “and then I woke up in my room. There’s no way I took myself off and, as impressive as JARVIS is, I don’t think he has a body just yet. So, I assume I have you to thank for the whole getting-me-into-bed thing. It’s usually you.”

“Yeah,” Steve said faintly, his heart pounding in his chest as his ears buzzed loudly. What the hell; Tony didn’t _remember_? “That was me.”

“Well, thank you.” Tony accepted a cup of coffee from Steve and sighed deeply, swiping a hand down his face. “As much as I appreciate it, I’d better head down to the lab to finish what I started last night. Thanks again. And for the coffee, of course.”

Tony lifted his hand and waved at Steve as he left the room. The pancakes on the stove started to smoke as Steve ignored them in favour of staring after Tony, something inside of him breaking with every step that Tony took to put him further away from Steve.

Steve wasn’t getting that kiss over his carefully made chocolate-chip pancakes and he wasn’t going to get to be the one who tucked Tony into bed and who could slip in behind him, wrapping his arms around Tony’s warm body as he settled in to sleep. He wasn’t going to be the one to wake Tony up with soft kisses trailing up the column of his throat or the one to entice him out of the workshop with promises of food and sex.

Steve wasn’t going to get everything he’d ever dreamt of.

Because Tony didn’t remember.


	17. 'You look beautiful'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY SO WE HAVE MADE IT HALFWAY
> 
> Also, I kinda love this one! (sorry if that's self-centered) - I finally wrote hanahaki disease!! But my brain gave out so please see if you spot mistakes (I found so many in editing)
> 
> Although, please proceed with caution as it is a little angsty, a little blood/gorey, a little hint of past child abuse (in one sentence), and has general bad Tony thoughts. BUT I fixed it and it ends with fluuuuuuuff

Tony hadn’t really noticed until he coughed up his first flower. It took him completely by surprise, but when he thought about it some more he guessed it made sense.

He had known pain all his life. From the drunken smack of his father’s hand as a young child to the loneliness he lived with as a teenager. When he had grown into adulthood, the pain had become physical once more; the drunken nights that ended in headaches and unknown bruises that gave way to serious injuries received in battles. He’d never had this though – this was _definitely_ new. As a scientist, it utterly fascinated him, but as a man… not so much.

Ever since he was a child there had been stories of this disease; the one where unrequited love caused flowers to blossom in a person’s lungs until each breath was a struggle. Every cough was another reminder that Tony’s heart would never be full and the man that he adored with his whole body and soul did not feel the same way – and likely never would.

It was also disgustingly ironic that they were Tony’s favourite flowers, the ones that he was throwing up covered in his own blood. He had always loved lilies, loved the way that they symbolised new life and death all at once and how they formed such a perfect star-like shape. They always came in the most vibrant of colours too; a sharp orange, a dusty pink, a brilliant white.

The white looked the most horrifying, Tony decided as he wiped his mouth roughly and tried to catch his breath. He choked a little as a small piece of petal tangled around one of his back teeth and grimaced as he pulled it out, exhaling harshly through pursed lips.

Of course this was his destiny. Not to die a hero at the hands of a villain as he fought valiantly to save the world, but to die alone coughing up fragments of his broken heart.

/

It was getting worse.

Tony had largely resigned himself to his fate, but for some reason there had been a small part of him that held on to some sort of foolish belief that Steve would return his love. But so far, he hadn’t.

With every wide smile, every thoughtful cup of coffee and each friendly clap to his shoulder, Tony fell that little bit further. And with every loud laugh, every cheeky wink and each firm hug, Tony felt his heart break that little bit more.

He supposed he could tell Steve, just in case, but Tony didn’t think that he would be able to take that. Tony would rather not have Steve at all than to have the man unbearably guilty and to spend time with him out of pity. He didn’t want to see Steve’s face twist knowing that it was his fault whenever Tony had a coughing fit that knocked him to his knees. Steve didn’t need it, Tony resolved.

Tony was fine.

/

Tony wasn’t fine.

His vision was swimming dangerously and his skin was hot to the touch. His head was pounding as though a marching band was dancing through it and his lungs screamed when he tried to suck in deep breaths that only resulted in further coughing.

Tony didn’t want to die. That was definitely new. As a young adult he hadn’t given it any sort of thought, partying here and there every single night, and even in his first years as Iron Man he had flown headfirst into battle without thinking things through.

But now it had come to this, he actually wanted to live.

And he certainly didn’t want his death to be on Steve’s hands.

Maybe it wasn’t worth fighting for. Maybe Tony should just let go. The thought crossed his mind when his legs gave out and he buckled, body bending over in half as he braced his hands on his knees. He couldn’t breathe.

This one was worse than it had ever been before and he could feel an entire flower rising in his throat, tiny pieces of its gorgeous petals being ripped off with every hacking cough. Tony fought in vain to stay awake, his fists clenching and nails digging into his palms as tears ran down his face.

His heart was broken. He could feel it with every breath he struggled to take, could see it in the disgustingly perfect, albeit bloody, flowers that littered the hallway.

Just before he lost consciousness, he felt a hand on his back and insistent fingers turning his cheek, a worried voice calling out for him as he finally succumbed to the darkness.

/

Huh. That was a new feeling, Tony thought as he drifted into consciousness. His breathing wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t feel as though red-hot pokers were clawing their way down his throat anymore. There was still something in his lungs, that much he knew, but it was a lot less intrusive and choking than it had been only a day before.

He had no idea why though. Opening his eyes and squinting at the brightness, Tony noticed where he was: SHIELD medical bay. Maybe they had finally done something to him, despite them saying that there was no cure. Maybe they’d just ripped out what was left of his heart.

When Tony turned his head to the side and saw the sleeping man in the chair next to his bed, he realised that the doctors had left his heart right where it had always been as it fluttered violently in his chest. It skipped a beat and began to pound wildly when Steve blinked awake and a wide smile spread slowly across his face as he stared right into Tony’s eyes. Steve pushed himself forward in his chair and gently took Tony’s hand on top of the hospital blanket.

This wasn’t real, Tony thought. There was no way that that smile was directed at him and that Steve’s touch wasn’t making him curl up into a ball a vomit up a garden. It couldn’t be Steve’s thumb stoking against his clammy skin, calming his heart down again and soothing his worries.

“Hi,” he finally croaked out and Steve’s smile grew even more, eyes looking suspiciously bright.

“Hi,” Steve whispered back. “You look absolutely beautiful.”

Of all the things Tony had expected Steve to say, it hadn't been that. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at his body with a puzzled look, wincing at the movement of his sore throat. “I’m in a hospital bed.”

Steve lifted his hand and cupped Tony’s cheek gently, his thumb brushing over Tony’s cheekbone. “Alive and well,” he pointed out lightly, “and you’ve never looked better.” 

Oh.

Tony could breathe.

He could actually take deep breaths without flower petals rising in his throat and falling out of his mouth. He could lean into Steve’s touch without his lungs constricting and his airways failing. He could –

Tony stopped thinking when Steve’s mouth slotted over his own in a beautiful kiss, a slow and sensual touch of their lips that poured out everything each man was feeling. Steve used his hand to tilt Tony’s head backwards ever so slightly to deepen the kiss just a little more as his tongue slipped out to lick at the seam of Tony’s mouth. When Tony parted his lips and granted Steve entrance, he let out a soft moan, lifting his hand to clutch as Steve’s shoulder and hold him closer.

Tony couldn’t have stopped the kiss if his life had depended on it, eyes closed as a tear slipped unbidden down his cheek.

When they broke apart Tony took a shuddering breath, still marvelling at how deep it had been and how full his lungs felt, the air leaving his mouth smoothly for the first time in months.

“I’m sorry I never said,” Steve whispered softly. “I should have told you; I should have told you every day.”

Tony stared at Steve as his heart beat a wild tattoo, not believing his ears. He must have died, or at least slipped into a coma. There was no way that Steve was saying… well, what he was saying.

“I love you, Tony.”

Oh. Well. Maybe he was.

“I love you so much. I noticed something was wrong, of course I did, but I didn’t know how serious it was. I didn’t want to believe it and I’ll never forgive myself for that, for telling myself I was in too deep and seeing things that weren’t there. You never reached out and I was a fool for letting you pull away, for being so stupid as to think... well. It doesn’t matter now, but I was selfish and I let you hurt. I let this happen.”

Tony opened his mouth to reply, to tell Steve that he was _insane._ There was no way this was on Steve, not at all, but Steve barrelled ahead before Tony could find his voice one more. Steve’s thumb was still stroking soothingly over Tony’s cheek, the callouses of his finger catching against the dark stubble on Tony’s cheeks.

“I’m so sorry I made you believe that I didn’t love you, sweetheart. I do. I promise; I adore you.”

There was nothing that Tony could have said that summed up all of the feelings that were stirring inside of him; the hope mixed with the confusion, the love being fought by the fear, and the anticipation battling with the anxiety. He reached out and caught Steve’s collar, reeling him in to start a long kiss that poured everything out and pushed it all towards Steve. Tony parted his lips and tasted Steve, let himself take everything he had longed for for _months_. It was real, he thought as Steve moaned against his mouth and deepened the kiss, their tongues dancing languidly and their hands reaching out for the other’s.

Tony could breathe.

He was going to live and he was going to do it by Steve’s side. Forever, together.

/

Tony had thought he never wanted to look at another lily for as long as he lived, but when Steve tucked one into his buttonhole before he took his hand to lead him down the aisle, he fell in love all over again.


	18. Walking kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got confused and spent ages editing the wrong day like a _fool_
> 
> Have some badly-edited, semi-nsfw, pre-sex kisses

Tony winced as his back caught against the sharp door frame, but he ignored it in favour of clutching Steve even tighter to him, lips parted and breaths coming in heavy pants as Steve’s tongue plundered his mouth.

Ignoring the pain, Tony groaned as Steve pulled away from him to create a trail of searing kisses down the side of his face and the column of his throat. When his head collided with the wall Tony couldn’t help himself and a small and breathless laugh escaped him.

Steve lifted his head from where he had been sucking a particularly deep bruise into Tony’s neck and his brow furrowed as his eyes danced cheekily. “I feel like I should be offended if you’re laughing right now.”

Tony smiled at Steve’s wry tone and stroked his hand over the back of his partner’s head, thrusting his hips up against Steve’s slowly but firmly. “Oh believe me, babe,” he started darkly, “you’re not doing anything wrong.”

Steve grinned wolfishly at that, grinding down against Tony’s crotch as his hands ducked into the waistband of Tony’s boxers.

“However,” Tony continued, “the romance is somewhat lost when I keep smacking into things. Whilst I’m not against a little pleasure with my pain, this whole walking backwards thing isn’t so easy.”

Tony’s words turned into an almost growl as Steve did something dirty with his hips, though he did look concerned for Tony.

“How about if I…” Steve didn’t finish his thought before he bent down and hooked his arms behind Tony’s knees, standing back up quickly and taking Tony’s full weight with him. Tony let out a shocked cry as he was lifted, but adjusted quickly. He tightened his legs around Steve’s waist and used the new position to grind down sinfully, delighting in the way that Steve’s eyes darkened even more with every rocking movement.

Steve’s loud groan was swallowed as Tony reconnected their lips, the kiss instantly deep as their tongues sought the other’s. All the calm and romance from their earlier kisses was nowhere to be seen, instead replaced by a desperate need to explore.

Without Tony’s feet to trip over, Steve could navigate the path to the bedroom a lot faster; even with his attention divided as Tony decided to make it his mission to bruise Steve’s neck. The scientist in him was fascinated with the way that Steve’s serum responded to any skin abrasion and instantly healed, though the man in him was desperate to mark his boyfriend. Tony pouted as yet another bruise disappeared almost as soon as Tony pulled his mouth away, though it lessened a little when Steve’s crotch ground against his.

That was one hell of a consolation prize.

And besides, Tony had all night to make his mark.


	19. Cheek kiss

Tony stumbled into the kitchen, his movements sluggish as he scrubbed a hand down his face and yawned widely, narrowly avoiding bumping into the corner of the breakfast bar as his eyes zeroed in on their target.

“Coffee?” he all but whimpered, blinking slowly and making grabby hands towards the pot on the side. “I need it.”

Steve chuckled and pushed himself up from the table, walking over to where Tony was slowly making his way to the counter. When they both reached their destination, Tony slumped back against the countertop and Steve busied himself fetching a drink for them both. He poured Tony a generous amount of coffee, the hot liquid quickly filling Tony’s ‘Best Teacher’ mug – the one that Peter had bought as a joke but Tony had adored – and then got a teabag out for himself. Tony groaned filthily when Steve held the coffee out to him and took it immediately. When he pulled his face out of the mug, he finally registered everyone else in the room. His friends were all staring at him with ranging expressions; Clint looked vaguely amused, Rhodey totally resigned, Sam disgusted and Steve… Steve looked strangely fond, just like always.

“Would you like to get a room?” Clint asked Tony, rolling his eyes and throwing his feet up into Bucky’s lap.

“You and that mug are the grossest couple in the tower,” Bucky agreed as he lifted his hands to rest on Clint’s ankles, “definitely the worst PDA I’ve had to witness. By _far_.”

Tony tore his eyes away from Steve and stuck his tongue out at his friends. “You all suck,” he told them haughtily and sniffed lightly. “There’s nothing wrong with my love for coffee.”

Steve scoffed lightly and Tony smirked. It was a running joke that Steve utterly despised coffee, though he was always the first to make Tony a mug of his favourite brand.

“Steve is my favourite,” Tony continued, taking another deep sip from his mug, “even though his opinions differ from mine, Steve doesn’t judge me and that’s why I’m in love with him.” Tony smacked a loud kiss to Steve’s cheek as he turned to leave.

He was halfway out of the door when Steve’s hoarse voice stopped him dead in his tracks.

“You’re in love with me?” Steve croaked out and Tony’s whole body froze as he slowly turned around to reface Steve.

Deny, his brain was bellowing at him, his heart pounding in his chest. _Deny!_

“Um,” was as far as he got before Steve was crossing the room towards him. This was exactly why Tony needed the coffee; to kick his brain back into gear and to stop himself from blurting out stupid stuff like this. Every fibre of Tony’s being was screaming at him to run, to get out of there, to _bolt_ …

His brain didn’t get any further as Steve suddenly swept him up into a tight hug and Tony’s mind went blank, only focusing on the warmth of Steve’s embrace and the feeling of Steve’s hands soothing over his back. Steve pulled back from the hug ever so slightly, only giving a moment of pause before he bent his head to slot his lips over Tony’s, their lips touching in a heartbreakingly sweet first kiss.

“I’m in love with you too,” Steve murmured against Tony’s mouth, his hot breath ghosting over Tony’s lips and making them tingle. “Even if you do taste like coffee.”

“Yeah well,” Tony laughed and pressed another soft kiss to Steve’s lips, linking his fingers together at the nape of Steve’s neck, “you’d better get used to it.”


	20. Eskimo kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to end this. This wasn't gonna have the ending it does, but I did something silly and I hurt and I found out bad things today so I changed my plans.
> 
> Also, this one has an eskimo kiss like a lovely commenter asked for. 
> 
> Thank you again to you all - your comments and kudos are the best part of my day.

Tony groaned and rolled over to bury his head into the pillow. How could he have been so stupid? Why did he always do this?

He had bad self-control at best of times, but add Steve to the equation and Tony lost any semblance he ever had. There was the sound of a door creaking open and the bed dipped, but Tony didn’t dare look up.

“We said we weren’t going to do this again,” Tony muttered lowly, shame and resignation flooding his words. There was a wry huff of laughter and Tony shifted his head just enough to peek one eye out.

“I think the fact that we did means something, don’t you?”

Tony let out another long groan and brought his hands up to cradle his head, hiding again as he gathered strength. “But we said,” he started before he changed his mind, “no, no; we  _agreed_ that we would stop. We were meant to go our separate ways, not end up in bed again.”

Tony pushed himself up to sit and finally looked over at Steve. He bit back a whine at how perfect Steve looked in the early morning light, his hair deliciously ruffled and a spattering of fading bruises marking his chest in a dot-to-dot that Tony wanted to join with his tongue. Tony’s heart hurt just from looking at him, never mind the thought of never having him again.

“We had reasons,” Tony continued forcefully, “a whole list of them. We sat down and made a list. It was a whole long list of reasons as to why we shouldn’t do this anymore. This…  _whatever_ this is has to stop. No more sleeping together, Steve.”

“I know,” Steve sighed and his shoulders slumped. He picked at a loose thread on the comforter as he continued, voice growing as he argued his point, looking up at Tony through his long lashes. “I know we did. But we broke our verbal agreement… again. Maybe we should,” he cut himself off and looked to Tony, an imploring look in his eyes. “Maybe those reasons were stupid and we should just allow this.”

Tony longed to say yes and caught his lower lip between his teeth to stop himself from blurting out as he tried to be sensible for once in his life. “But you said… I mean, the team,” Tony started, “your image. The media and–”

“I don’t care,” Steve cut in. “I only said about the media because I was trying to protect you; I know how much you hate having those vultures on your back all the time, making up lies and taking photos. I don’t care about my image in the slightest; I just thought it would be easier for you. And as for the team, well, they’ll love it. You know how they keep pushing us together and making comments. Anything else?”

Tony swallowed, his mouth suddenly as dry as the desert. “I… it makes it real.”

“That it does,” Steve agreed seriously, “and I admit that I was scared. For that I am sorry, but we can do this. I don’t want to not have this, Tony. Not just ‘this’,” he said as he gestured between the two of them, “but everything. All of it. The dates and the holding hands and the movie nights. Waking up with you and going to sleep with you. Being real doesn’t have to be a bad thing, not at all.”

Tony searched Steve’s face but held back any reaction. “So… we can scrap the list and the promise not to do this again?”

A smile bloomed as Steve leant forward slowly, his eyes locked onto Tony’s. “Absolutely.”

The kiss they shared was one of the best ones of Tony’s life. It was a deep kiss, nothing passionate or burning, but something special all the same. It was a promise of a lot more to come and when Steve’s fingers found his, interlocking and squeezing tight, it slid right up and took the number one spot.

When they pulled away, Steve didn’t let Tony go very far, instead cradling Tony’s face between his hands as he leant in rubbed his nose against Tony’s softly. It was so sweet; so silly and yet so  _endearing_  and Tony couldn’t help the laugh that escaped him as rested his forehead against Steve’s, his nose scrunching up at the tickling movement.

He finally had it all.

 


	21. Forehead kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one isn't a real fic, but I like it anyways! Hope you do too

Steve was a lucky, lucky man. He told himself that every day, – sometimes more than once – but it never sunk in just how lucky he really was until he came home to sights like this.

When Steve walked through the front door, it was to see Tony fast asleep on the couch with his head resting against a cushion propped up on one arm rest and his legs stretched out to the other. His face was soft in a way it almost never was when he was awake and his mouth was open just enough to let Steve hear his deep breathing. Tony’s hands were cradling Peter to his chest, one hand covering the child’s back and the other cupping his neck, holding him close. Peter was also deep in sleep, his face beautifully peaceful as he let out heavy breaths, his little body rising and falling with Tony’s.

Steve crossed the room silently and crouched down next to the couch. He reached out a hand and swept Peter’s messy locks away from his forehead gently. When Peter’s eyelids fluttered, Steve couldn’t help himself and leant forward, pressing a kiss to the boy’s nose. He smiled when he pulled away in time to see it crinkle with the touch.

Keeping his smile firmly in place, Steve rose just enough to lean over and drop a second kiss onto Tony’s forehead, a light brush of his lips against tanned skin.

He was lucky, Steve reminded himself once again. Damn, was he lucky.


	22. Kiss in front of everyone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is possibly my favourite! I had fun writing sleepy tony and the other guys playing around. 
> 
> Thank you for the support again - you're all such sweethearts

“Good morning.”

Tony shuffled into the kitchen, his face breaking into a soft smile when Steve immediately noticed when he crossed the threshold and called out to him.

“Morning,” he murmured back, voice husky with sleep and eyes still practically closed. When he got close enough, Steve stretched out his arms to wind them around Tony’s waist and pull him close to his chest. Tony went happily and leant against Steve’s legs, burying his head into Steve’s shoulder, content to stand up in Steve’s space instead of sitting at the empty seat next to him at the breakfast bar. At this level, Tony was just ever so slightly taller than Steve and could lean down instead of stretching up for once.

After a moment, Steve pulled back and lifted Tony’s chin just enough to brush their lips together, a closed mouth kiss that had Tony sighing blissfully. 

“It’s still weird.”

Tony broke the kiss and lifted his head to glare over at who had just spoken. Clint was sitting on the opposite side of the counter, a spoon full of Froot Loops halfway to his mouth as he looked over at the other two men with a weird look on his face. 

“We’ve been together for 3 years,” Steve reminded him, stroking distracting circles over Tony’s hip as he rolled his eyes at Clint and reached out with his other hand for his coffee. “We do this every morning. And night. Throughout the day too, actually. You have to be used to it by now.”

Clint thought about Steve’s words for a moment before he shrugged and shook his head. “...It’s still weird.” 

“It is,” Bucky agreed as he entered the kitchen behind Sam, the two of them jostling playfully.

“You too?” Steve asked, though laughter coloured his tone. Tony had gone back to burying his head into Steve’s shoulder and blocking out the world, happy enough to chase the last moments of sleep before he needed to face real life for the day. “Why is this so weird?”

“I don’t know,” Bucky started slowly, one shoulder lifting into a shrug as he grabbed the box of cereal from out of Clint’s grasp to pour himself a bowl. “It’s not the… It could be the… Nah, I don’t know what it is. It just _is_.”

“It’s like watching mom and dad kiss,” Sam explained. He’d made a bee line for the coffee pot as soon as he came in and now that he’d downed half a mug in one gulp, he was ready to chime in with his two cents. 

“Mom and dads are ‘posed to kiss,” Tony muttered in return, nuzzling even closer to Steve. 

“Yeah, but not in front of my cereal,” Clint argued.

“Shush.” Tony twisted until he was practically sitting on Steve’s lap as he made a noise of discomfort. “Steve, why are they not shushing? Tell them to shush. I wanna sleep.”

Steve laughed lightly and put his mug down to wrap both hands around Tony’s waist and manoeuvre him into a more comfortable position. “You heard the man,” he told his friends, “if you don’t like it, you can move out and pay your own rent.”

“Don’t like it?”

“Who doesn’t like it?” 

“I love it. It’s second nature.”

“Totally normal…” 

“Brilliant–”

“I never said that I didn’t _like_ it–”

“Classic…”

Steve shook his head at the immediate outpouring of denial and cover ups from the other three men, his eyes dancing with amusement as they talked over themselves as shook their heads, hands up in surrender. When Tony didn’t make a comment, Steve looked down in surprise at the lack of a retort.

 _Ah_ , he thought as his grin softened, _that would explain_ _that_. Tony was fast asleep once more; his head lolling on Steve’s shoulder and deep breaths slipping out from between his slightly parted lips. Steve twisted his head enough to drop a kiss to Tony’s messy hair, sliding back in his chair even more so that Tony’s back wasn’t bent in such an uncomfortable position.

Clint’s mouth opened and Steve pointed a finger at him warningly. “Not a word.”


	23. 'What was that for?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very short and hopefully sweet! More superfamily for you such lovely and supportive people

Tony always thought that he would be jealous if he saw Steve kiss someone else. He’d imagined heartbreak and anger, pain and suffering. He had never expected love, overwhelming happiness and pride.

Steve was sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery as Tony drew near to the doorway, Peter lying in the dip in his legs. The boy laughed delightedly every time Steve ducked down to press kisses to his tiny hands and feet as he waved them in the air.

Steve’s smile practically lit up the room as he stared down at his son, eyes dancing as they followed Peter’s movements. Tony entered and crossed the room in a few large strides and, once he was at Steve’s side, bent his head to catch his husband’s lips in a deep kiss, his tongue flicking against Steve’s for a second before he pulled away.

Dazed, Steve blinked a couple of times before he grinned dopily. “Hi,” he said as Tony dropped into a squat next to him, laughing when Peter held out his pudgy fists. “What was that for?”

Tony shrugged and blew a raspberry down at his son, who giggled as though Tony was a world-class comedian. “Just ‘cause.”

“Well,” Steve said as he lifted Peter up into his lap so that he was sitting instead of lying down and turning him to face Tony, “as good a reason as any, I suppose.”


	24. A surprising first kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this is definitely a ficlet and it's lateish, but today has been hectic and I'm dead on my feet. However, I made it before midnight!!!

It wasn’t until he had Tony’s cheeks in his hands and his taste on his lips that Steve realised what he had done. He released Tony – acutely aware of how difficult that actually was – and forced himself to take a step backwards.

“Huh,” Tony said, visibly shocked and blinking widely. Steve watched as he swallowed and let out a slow breath. “I didn’t see that coming.”

Steve blinked once, twice, and shook his head, his eyes dropping to the floor as he shuffled a little awkwardly. “No,” he stammered out, “nor did I.”

Tony lifted an eyebrow but gave no other reaction.

“I just…” Steve paused, unsure of where he was actually going with this. “I don’t know,” he finally settled on, “I just couldn’t resist.” He lifted his eyes back up to Tony’s as one shoulder shrugged in defeat.

Steve was just about to walk away to lick his wounded when Tony broke into a smile and he felt hope bloom in his chest instead.

“Can’t say I blame you,” Tony said cheekily and Steve went automatically when Tony held out a hand to him. “Maybe we should make that a regular thing?”


	25. After 'I love you'

Tony melted into the arms that wrapped around his waist and let out a contented sigh.

“Someone’s cuddly this morning,” he commented and smiled when Steve hummed into his neck, nosing at the column of Tony’s throat.

“I’m allowed to be.”

Tony grinned and tilted his head to give Steve a little more access to drop soft kisses on his sensitive skin. “Mm, yes. Yes, you are.”

Steve bit down lightly, chuckling as Tony squirmed happily and threaded their fingers together where they rested over his stomach.

“I love you,” Steve whispered in between more kisses, his wide smile evident in his reverent words.

Tony turned his head just enough to catch Steve’s lips with his own, parting them ever so slightly for a long and perfect moment. When they broke apart, Tony closed his eyes and leant back against Steve’s shoulder, savouring the words that they had only shared for the first time a mere eight hours before. Tony had never really happy to hear those three little words, always associating them with lies and deception, and he had certainly had never had a burning desire to say them back… until Steve. Tony's mouth had practically tingled with anticipation until the words all but rolled off his tongue without his permission, though he wouldn’t have stopped them if he could.

The smile that Steve had given him when he had said them was something that Tony hadn’t been prepared for and his heart had been pounding so loudly that it was almost enough to drown out the constant repeat of Steve’s confession that played on a loop in his brain – _almost._

“I love you, too,” Tony finally returned, the happiness that went with the words practically sweeping him off his feet. He hoped that he would never lose that feeling and with Steve’s arms around his waist and his kisses behind his ear, he had an inkling that he never would.


	26. Coming out kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuff
> 
> (maybe like the tiniest bit of angst)

Tony looked awful.

Steve hated to say that about such a beautiful man, but it was true. His hair was unwashed and there were large bags under his eyes as his hands shook around the coffee mug clasped in his hands. Tony seemingly hadn’t even noticed Bruce switching his normal coffee with decaf; a testament to just how rough he felt. He looked utterly exhausted, like he just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for weeks after a long shower and a good cry.

There had been so much for Tony to do recently, Steve thought with a sigh. _Stark Industries_ had launched some new fandangled project or object or something that had needed a lot of Tony’s attention, as had the new designs for some SHIELD technology. There had been a small skirmish with some HYDRA goons at the start of the week and then Tony had been hauled into meeting after meeting with charities and Fury and the board of his company for days on end. Steve and the rest of the team had hardly seen him outside of the battle field and the occasional bumping into him at 2am when someone needed a late night snack and Tony was wandering around the kitchen like a zombie.

Letting out a long huff of air, Steve stared over at Tony sitting on the other side of the kitchen and his shoulders slumped. It was actually day-light and the whole team were having a late breakfast _together_. Bruce and Bucky were in charge of the cooking – an unlikely friendship that had worked out perfectly for everyone’s stomachs – and someone had actually managed to drag Tony up from the workshop. He was now slouched over the dining table wearing a shirt covered in thick stripes of oil and jeans with a long rip in one leg that Steve wasn’t sure Tony knew was there, but he was sitting there with them all.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Steve took a deep breath and crossed the room. He placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder and when Tony looked up at him with a quizzical expression, Steve didn’t hesitate to bend down and connect their lips in a soft and lingering kiss.

When he pulled away there was total silence in the room and Steve could feel the eyes of everyone on him. He didn’t care though, despite his racing heart and his shaking hands. He couldn’t tear his eyes from Tony’s and a small smile grew on his face at Tony’s shocked expression, a glimmer of careful hope beginning to bloom in his eyes as he searched Steve’s.

“What was that?” Tony whispered, eyes still flickering across Steve’s face. “I didn’t think we were doing,” Tony cast a nervous glance around his friends before he looked back to Steve, “ _this_. You didn’t want to tell, remember?”

Steve took a deep breath and slid his hand up to cup Tony’s face. “I know what I said, but…”

“But what?” Tony asked when Steve trailed off, his hand reaching out for Steve’s and holding him there against his soft skin.

“You were upset,” Steve said simply. “You needed me and I needed you, to give you the comfort you clearly need. It was worth it.” Steve smiled and leant in for another heartbreakingly sweet kiss. “You will always be worth it.”


	27. ‘I’m scared’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry! I’m such a fail. My laptop decided to die last night - you should have seen me when I realised I couldn’t post on the right day :(

“I’m scared.”

Steve smiled warmly at Tony’s whispered confession and squeezed his hand. “Don’t be,” he said gently. “This is nothing to be scared about, sweetheart.”

“Everything’s going to change.”

“Not everything,” Steve countered. “Some things will, sure, but some will only get better. If you don’t want this, then that’s okay. There’s no pressure, Tony, I promise.”

“I do,” Tony said, finally breaking into a soft smile. “I want it, I really do. I want you, forever. It’s a ‘yes’.”

Steve’s grin just about lit up the room and he raised an eyebrow as his eyes danced mischievously. “I never actually got to ask the question. I got interrupted.”

“Um, well, I wouldn’t say I interrupted you,” Tony started before Steve laughed.

“Technically not,” Steve said lightly, “but the way you tensed up and your face went a ghostly white sort of put me off.”

Tony bit his lip and let out a soft chuckle. “Okay, I’ll admit it; I interrupted. But I’ve said ‘yes’, too, now.”

Steve clucked his tongue. “You don’t know what you’re accepting though, yet. I could be asking you to adopt Clint, or to buy Bucky a goat farm. Might even be asking you to move the Dodgers back to Brooklyn for me.”

Tony’s smile grew even wider and he laid his hand on top of Steve’s as he leant forward for a soft kiss. It didn’t last long, just enough time for their lips to press together gently; chapped skin against soft, a peek of a tongue before they pulled away. “If it were you asking,” Tony whispered, “I’d say ‘yes’ to it all.”

 


	28. 'Come back to me'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we are back to schedule! I hope you enjoy your bedtime reading on time tonight!

Tony surged forward and pressed a fierce kiss against Steve’s lips. His hands were gripping at Steve’s biceps tightly and his eyes were kept firmly closed, savouring the moment whilst also a little scared to look at Steve. It was a passionate kiss, tongues tangling as their lips danced, breaking apart only to meet again and again and again. Words were spoken through the kiss, emotions brought to the surface that Tony just couldn’t keep in any more. It had seemingly come out of the blue, but it had been building for months on end.

When they finally broke apart, Tony stayed exactly where he was, breathing harshly against Steve’s mouth as his chest heaved. Steve was silent, frozen in surprise at Tony’s actions, but Tony noticed that he was making no effort to rip himself from the embrace. Tony took a deep breath and opened his eyes, finally locking his gaze onto Steve’s before he spoke, softly but confidently.

“Come back to me.”

There was a moment of silence as Steve searched Tony’s face. Upon seeing Tony’s unusual seriousness, Steve nodded sincerely. “Without a doubt,” he promised. “I’ll be back at your side before you’ve finished your workshop binge.”

Tony couldn’t find it in him to smile at Steve’s small joke, but he went willingly when Steve cupped his face and tilted his head to reconnect their lips. It was a slower kiss, one with less tongue and heat but no less passion. When he pulled away, Steve stroked a hand over Tony’s cheek and held his gaze.

“Go,” Tony said resignedly, leaning into the touch, “go now and come back quickly.”

“I will.”

Their third kiss was even shorter than their first two, but it said everything that their words could not and for that, Tony was thankful. He’d never been much of a wordsmith, but he needed Steve to _know_ before he left for what could be his last ever mission.

It was a question and an answer, a confession of secrets buried long ago.

It was more than that, though. It was hope.

And it was a promise.


	29. Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This can be read as a follow-on from yesterday's ficlet! Can you believe we're nearly at the end?????

There were hands framing his face and hot lips against his own, a tongue demanding entrance to his mouth that Tony eagerly granted. He went weak at the first touch of the tongue against his own and he gave up control willingly as it pushed and danced, the kiss deepening before Tony had a chance to catch his breath and get his brain back online. As soon as he had been gently pushed away from the breakfast bar and had his coffee pulled out of his hands, his eyes had fallen shut and now, as a knee slid in between his legs, he felt his eyelids flutter.

The taste was one that Tony had sadly only had once, but he would recognise it for the rest of his life regardless. It was one that he had dreamt of and imagined for months and months, but he had never been lucky enough to know until he had sucked up every last ounce of his courage and risked everything. He’d had the experience oh so briefly, but it still kept him up at night and made him lose all sense of concertation during the days. The lips against his undoubtedly belonged to a man; a man that Tony knew and adored – even though he hadn’t seen who had entered the room, of that he was sure.

The large hands on Tony’s cheeks tilted his head back just enough that his lips fitted even more perfectly against their partners’ and the calloused skin of a thumb rubbing against Tony’s cheek was enough to make him groan loudly. He lifted his hands from where they were hanging uselessly at his sides and gripped at the other man’s forearms desperately. Tony felt his nail digging in to soft skin, but he knew that there would be no marks left when he let go. Part of him mourned the loss of his mark on that beautiful skin, but it wouldn’t be _him_ if that serum wasn’t there.

Tony tried to follow the lips as they pulled away from his far too soon, but when his eyes opened and he locked his gaze with a face he had missed for months, he found that he wasn’t that upset at their disappearance.

“Hi,” he whispered, swallowing harshly when his voice came out husky and broken.

Steve broke into a wide smile and leant in for a second kiss, this one soft and sweet and saying oh so much. When Steve pulled back again he stroked his thumb over Tony’s bottom lip, his eyes sparkling warmly. “I told you I’d come back.”


	30. Interrupted

Tony was working himself up into a rant. Well, a bigger rant. It hadn’t taken much to set him off this morning and only been one person had said one thing and, well…

Steve wasn’t sure what had actually been said, but it was enough to make Tony mad and he was just  _off_. He’d been ranting for nearly 5 minutes now, which was highly impressive – not that Steve was listening to what he was saying. 

No, Steve was more focused on the way Tony’s whole body moved as he spoke, how his arms flailing to accent a point and how his hips swayed as he gestured wildly. Steve was also enthralled by the light in Tony’s eyes that showed his passion as his lips twisted into a number of different shapes to form his words. His cheeks were flushed and were only growing darker with every gasped breath as Tony’s words grew stronger and more enraged.  

Today was going to be the day. The thought almost took Steve by surprise, his own brain making decisions for him that came out of the blue. 

But it wasn’t out of the blue, was it? He and Tony had been dancing around this for ages, whatever ‘this’ was. There was only one way to put a definition on that, anyway, Steve told himself. He had to try. 

Before he had really registered what he was doing, Steve was crossing the room with wide strides. As soon as he was close enough, Steve took Tony’s face in his hands and bent down ever so slightly, just enough to make his lips level with Tony’s.

The kiss was perfect.

Tony was taken completely by surprise so Steve was able to position him exactly where he wanted him, angling his neck back as his tongue swept across Tony’s bottom lip. It didn’t take Tony long at all to get with the programme and he gave up control willingly, his arms looping around Steve’s neck as their lips slotted together perfectly. The kiss was long and slow, deep and passionate, and Steve craved more. He pulled Tony closer to him by his hips, wrapping his arms around Tony's waist as he groaned loudly at the delicious taste of him.

When they pulled apart there was silence in the room. Steve didn't pay any attention to any of their friends openly staring at them as he kept his eyes firmly on Tony, their gazes locked together as Steve waited for Tony to speak first. It didn't take long before Tony opened his mouth, but he only said one word.

“Yeah?”

Steve broke into a wide and slow smile and bent down to brush his lips against Tony’s once more. “Yeah.”

 


	31. Kiss someone else

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoooookay. This one is a little angsty, as the title might suggest. There is cheating (but actually there isn't), temporary character death (but actually there isn't), a little bit of violence with knives, and the involvement of HYDRA. But I hope you enjoy it? 
> 
> I thought I'd give you an actual fic for once, given that it's our last day.

Tony had never thought too hard about what it would feel like to see Steve kiss someone else, too sure that it would never happen, but this seemed about right.

Watching Steve’s lips part for some woman’s and seeing his hands tangled in her long, blonde hair, his tongue visible whenever they pulled apart slightly felt like watching his worst nightmare on repeat. He had thought that having an arc reactor was painful and that Obie betraying him had been emotionally agonizing, but this…

Tony wouldn’t wish this on his worst enemy.

He felt as though his heart was breaking, staring straight ahead of him as if his eyes were glued there. It was a special kind of irony for Steve to be making out with some woman whilst standing directly beneath the framed photograph of his and Tony’s wedding. It was definitely more painful than open heart surgery and Tony felt like crying. His palms were getting sweaty and his head was sinning, the room suddenly shrinking around him as the temperature rocketed up by a thousand degrees.

Tony couldn’t do this. It was the cruellest sight, the image of Steve’s beautiful wedding ring peeking out through a mess of curls as he angled the woman’s head to deepen the kiss.

He was a fighter, was Tony Stark, but he wasn’t sure that this was something he _could_ fight for. Steve had chosen her, some women that Tony didn’t recognise, over their 10 year marriage, their 14 year relationship and their 20 year friendship. Tony, as much as he adored Steve and as much as he wanted to just fall to his knees and cry and scream and _beg,_ he knew when to give in. He was a fighter and a martyr, but he wasn’t completely stupid. His heart was already broken, why ruin it further?

Tony wasn’t sure how long he had been standing there watching his husband kiss someone else when he was suddenly shoved violently to one side. He looked up in shocked indignation just in time to see Bucky Barnes, his husband’s _best friend,_ stab a knife through Steve’s back.

 

 

Tony lurched forward before he realised what he was doing and an inhuman scream fell from his lips as he watched Bucky’s knife pierce Steve’s flesh, the sharp blade going straight through and peeking out of his chest. Tony tried to take another step forward, needing to be with his husband as he crumpled to the floor, his face a horrified grimace, but arms wrapped tightly around him, cementing him to where he stood. As angry and as distraught as Tony was with his husband, he struggled wildly against the arms holding him. This was _Steve._ Tony couldn’t watch him die. He _couldn’t._

“Steve,” Tony all but screamed as he tried to break free. When he couldn’t move, he rounded on Bucky and spat out his next words. “How could you?” His voice was already hurting and Tony had barely said five words. “He’s your best friend! Your _brother_ and you stabbed him.”

“Tony–”

Tony shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut as if to block out Rhodey’s words, the arms around him tightening when Tony recognised who was holding him and he fought desperately harder. “Tony, look.”

As hard as Tony tried, Rhodey was wearing the War Machine armour and even with Tony’s anger, he didn’t stand a chance.

“It’s _Steve,”_ Tony cried again, “how…”  Tony took a gasping lungful of air as tears began to soak his face, his head spinning and pounding as the sounds of Steve’s last breaths filtered into his ears.

Bile rose in Tony’s throat and he quickly turned his head to vomit all over the floor, half-registering Clint slapping handcuffs onto the blonde woman that Steve had been kissing and shoving her violently out of the room. It didn’t mean anything to him though, his mind far too concerned with everything else that had happened.

“Oh, God.” Tony’s voice was hardly human as his knees buckled and collapsed underneath him. “Steve… oh. You, he’s really – what…”

“Tony, open your eyes.” Tony struggled again and lifted a shaky hand to cover his face, trying to hold back the urge to be sick once more. He couldn’t… he didn’t want to open his eyes and see his husband lying there in a pool of his own blood. Just imagining it was enough for Tony to stop fighting and he threw up again, his stomach rolling as he let out a ghostly moan.

Rhodey took one hand from around Tony’s waist and cupped his face instead, twisting his head slightly towards himself. “Tony,” he said pleadingly, “look up. Please open your eyes. I promise you, it’s okay.”

Tony’s eyes snapped open and he stared at Rhodey in betrayal. “Okay? In what world is this okay?” Tony yelled. “My husband, who was apparently cheating on me, has just been stabbed by one of our best friends.”

“Look, Tony. Turn around.”

Tony grimaced and balled his hands into fists, letting out a long breath before he turned around glacially slowly. He could do this. He was strong. Dread filled every fibre of his being as he twisted his head, teeth worrying his bottom lip and taking gulping breaths as he tried to prepare himself. There was going to be blood, he thought in a panic, there was going to be so much of his husband's blood.

There was... there was no blood. 

/

What the – why was there no blood? Tony stumbled to his feet and across the room, brushing past the rest of his team mates without noticing until he reached Steve. There was nothing _, nothing,_ coming out of Steve; nothing pouring out from the knife wound in his back.

Where was the blood?

Tony was going insane. It was the only explanation that crossed his mind. There was no other reason as to why Bucky would _stab_ Steve, or for why Steve wasn’t bleeding because of said stab wound. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from Steve’s scrunched up face, from the tears falling from his eyes and the way that Steve clutched at his abdomen even as he addressed the others in the room.

“What is going on?” Tony asked, his voice shaking, “what the _fuck_ is going on?”

“Tony, it’s okay…”

“No, it’s not!” Tony’s voice verged on hysteria and Rhodey dropped to his knees by his side.

“It is, Tones, I swear.” Tony shook his head and Rhodey wrapped his arm around his shoulders, rushing ahead when Tony opened his mouth again. “Trust me; it’s okay. We would never–”

“He’s dead,” Tony choked out. “Oh my… Steve, Rhodey, it’s Steve – he’s…”

“He’s not.” Rhodey cupped Tony’s cheek and pushed his head back to look into his eyes. “Tony Stark, you listen to me right now. That man down there, that’s not your husband.” Rhodey threw his head to one side to gesture to the floor, but he kept his grip on Tony’s face when Tony tried to look. “It was a HYDRA scam. We don’t know the details, we didn’t have time to find out, but we know that much. Bucky found the base a week or so ago and that’s what our meetings have been about.

“We went in yesterday and we found labs of some description. They were mostly empty, but we saw enough to… There weren’t enough survivors to explain what they were doing, but it was pretty self-explanatory. They had computers and robots and, God, I don’t know what they hell else they had in there. It was more of a mess than your damn workshop, I swear.”

Tony didn’t smile and Rhodey sighed deeply, his head hanging as he stared straight at Tony. “It’s not him, I promise.”

“Well then where is he?” Tony said, his voice loud and shrill as he shoved himself up suddenly, looking around the room. “Where the fuck is my husband? Have HYDRA got him? I saw him yesterday morning and he was fine. We… oh my God.” Tony cut himself off as a thought occurred to him and a hand flew to his mouth as he gagged. “How long has this, this _robot_ been impersonating Steve? We – Rhodes, Steve and I, we… last night. Was it–?”

Rhodey’s mouth fell open and his eyes widened as he realised what Tony was saying to him. His head shot round and he made frantic eye contact with Bucky, hand gesturing wildly at his side as he jumped up too. Bucky dropped his eyes back down to Steve’s body on the floor and there were a few long and tense seconds of silence as Bucky prodded the body a few times before he shook his head.

“No,” Bucky said confidently, turning back to look up at Tony. “No, it was Steve yesterday. I _know_ it was.”

“Are you–?”

“I know Stevie,” Bucky spoke over Rhodey fiercely. “It was him. He has super-serum, right? So he doesn’t scar. This _thing_ has a scar right down its stomach. Must have been from the operation or creation or whatever the damn hell you’d call it. Steve and I sparred yesterday and he didn’t have this scar. I don’t know when the fuck this appeared, but it was Stevie yesterday.”

Rhodey let out a long breath of air from between pursed lips and his shoulders dropped a little. “Okay,” he said somewhat calmly, “so we know that that’s definitely not Steve and that we haven’t been compromised for long. That still doesn’t–”

“Where the fuck is he?” Tony’s patience had run out once more and he reached out to squeeze Rhodey’s arm. “Have they got him – they needed a model, right? They must have needed him to get the details so right. Where’s my husband?”

Before anyone could reply, there was a loud bang and they all shot around to see what the noise was, hands flying to waists to grab weapons against an intruder.

“Tony!” The noise had come from the door where someone had thrown it open and it had slammed into the wall with a deafening sound. “Tony, are you in here? I–”

Before Steve could finish his sentence, Tony was halfway across the room and in his husband’s arms. The hug only lasted a matter of seconds before Tony pulled back and locked his eyes onto Steve’s.

“Where did we go on our first date and what did you buy me?”

“The observatory and a necklace,” Steve answered automatically, not questioning Tony. “A necklace that I don’t think you’ve ever worn, actually.”

“What did you say to me last week before I left for my big investment meeting?”

“That you were going to be amazing and that I would make pancakes when you came home, chocolate chips included.”

Tony relaxed with every word that left Steve’s lips even as his fingers dug into his husband’s shoulder blades. “And our wedding night? What did we do?”

Steve smiled, an unusual sight in their setting, but it calmed Tony’s heart nonetheless. “We ordered sandwiches and chocolate cake from room service, slow danced to David Kersh and watched rom-coms till four in the morning.”

“It’s you,” Tony breathed in relief, “it’s really you.”

“It’s me,” Steve promised, his hands holding Tony close and rubbing in soothing patterns on his back. “I just got off the quinjet outside and I had a swarm of agents flock to me. What the hell happened?”

Just as Steve reached the end of his sentence, Tony stepped to one side and revealed the body of Steve’s doppelgänger on the floor. There was silence for a beat more before Steve swore loudly and twisted so that he was facing the main body of the room, Tony shielded from the sight. “Oh my God,” Steve breathed out, “what happened? What the hell is that?”

Rhodey sighed and shook his head. “We don’t have a clue. Last night we finally got the go-ahead to raid the HYDRA base we’ve had surveillance on for the past however long and when we got there we found all sorts of shit. There were rooms and labs and God knows what and a whole host of these stupid things.” Rhodey aimed the last of his words down at the floor, glaring at the lifeless body there. “We also found blueprints and plans for implementation of these into reality. As soon as it was clear we got out of there and rushed back just in time to see this one coming into the tower with some woman – who was another HYDRA agent, by the way.”

“What?” Tony flinched at the combination of Rhodey’s words and Steve’s loud cry. “What do – how… what? A woman? He was with a woman?”

Bucky let out a humourless huff of laughter and pushed himself up wearily. “Yeah, my thoughts exactly. I say we call SHIELD clean up, get this fucker out of here, interrogate that HYDRA bitch downstairs and get Thor to make us some Asgardian cocktails. I’ve had a bit of a shit day, topped off my stabbing my best friend, and I’m more than ready for my bed.”

Steve reached out a hand and cupped Bucky’s neck as he walked past, though he didn’t release his hold on Tony. “Fuck,” he murmured softly. “Yeah, get out of here. Thank you, Buck, for everything. Get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning?”

Bucky smiled and squeezed Steve’s hand. “Make it the afternoon and you’ve got a deal. Glad to see I got the right one of you.”

“Me too,” Steve huffed.

Rhodey chuckled lightly and clapped Bucky on the shoulder as he approached. “Me three. Steve, get out of here; I’ll wait for the clean-up. Don’t you dare go down to the compound, you’ll never get away. Let me deal with it, okay?”

Steve nodded gratefully as his hand slid up to cup Tony’s neck where his fingers stroked lightly over the soft skin, catching on the small hairs there. “Thank you, Rhodey. I will be waiting for you in my office at 0900 for a full report.”

“I’d expect nothing less.” Rhodey glanced down at Tony, who had his forehead resting on Steve’s chest and was totally still, his face blank and his eyes closed tightly. “I’m glad you’re here, Steve. Now go, please.”

/

It was a long and quiet walk to their bedroom, Steve leading the way with his arms wrapped around Tony the entire time. When they finally reached the bedroom, Steve pushed Tony gently onto the bed and knelt down in front of him, his hands cupping Tony’s face as he stroked his thumb over his cheek.

“Tony, are you okay?”

Tony let out a startled bark of laughter at the fierce look of concern all over Steve’s face. “You looked at a mirror image of yourself dead on our floor and you’re asking if _I’m_ alright?”

“I wasn’t the one who had to watch that,” Steve replied softly. “I didn’t see…”

Tony swallowed and when he spoke again, his voice was barely more than a broken whisper. “I thought it was you.”

“I know,” Steve sat up on the bed next to Tony and wrapped his arms around his waist, holding him closer when Tony nuzzled in. “I know, sweetheart. I’m so sorry, but it wasn’t. It’s not me; _I’m_ me. I’m here, I promise.”

Tony didn’t say anything for a long moment as he reached out for Steve’s hand, holding it tightly in his own and rubbing over his wedding ring. “I watched you kiss her. I watched your lips on hers and your hands all over her body. You looked at her like you looked at me.”

“I didn’t.” Steve turned and dipped his head until Tony met his gaze, speaking softly but surely. “I swear to you, right here, right now and for every day that we will spend together, that I would never look at _anyone_ the way I look at you. You’re mine, sweetheart; you’re all I could ever want.”

"And you're mine," Tony replied, tilting his head back to position his lips at Steve's. "For ever."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot thank you enough for still reading this.


	32. Bonus!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY I COULDN'T RESIST. In case some people didn't like the last one, have a bonus to end the month!
> 
> You've all been unfairly amazing with your comments and your kudos and I am honestly so overwhelmed with the response I’ve gotten from this little challenge/collection. I grin like a fool at every notification and I’m awed by every comment. Some of the things that you guys have said to me have legitimately brought me to tears. This whole thing has done wonders for my writing and you've made it fun.
> 
> I cannot believe it, honestly, despite the screenshots I have to remind me of the wonderful things you’ve said. I’m beyond grateful and you’re all incredible and downright enablers and I now have tentative plans drawn up for a September collection!

“Don’t move!”

Tony froze as he woke to the sound of someone shouting at him. He paused midway through rolling over, one eye still buried in his pillow and his back twisted awkwardly as he tried to locate the voice.

“Um, good morning to you too?”

Tony heard a light laugh and relaxed when a hand reached out to cup his cheek, stroking softly as someone turned his head enough to allow him to see.

“Sorry, sweetheart,” Steve said when Tony’s body was back in a normal pose and he could had the use of both eyes. “You were just in such a gorgeous position, I couldn’t resist.”

Tony looked over to the other side of the bed to see Steve’s sketchbook lying open, a pencil resting atop a half-drawn portrayal of Tony. Reaching out to swat at Steve’s naked chest lightly in embarrassment, Tony flushed a deep red and rolled his eyes. “You nearly gave me a heart attack,” he muttered as he slid his hands up to cup the back of Steve’s neck, fingers twisting into Steve’s hair and absentmindedly thinking that he needed to book Steve a haircut. “I thought I was about to roll over onto something. I didn’t realise I was only interrupting an early morning doodle session.”

Steve chuckled and lay down next to Tony, his hand lifting to dance across Tony’s stomach. “Sorry, I did overreact a little. But you just looked so unfairly amazing, I didn’t want to lose the moment. And it wasn’t a _doddle session;_ I needed to capture you.”

“You couldn’t have taken a picture?” was Tony’s way of avoiding the compliment as his skin darkened even more.

“Wouldn’t have been the same. I needed to do it with my own two hands otherwise it wouldn’t have felt right.”

Tony winked dirtily and pulled Steve on top of him, delighting at the way his knees slotted between Steve’s and the access he had to Steve’s soft skin. “I’ll show you what you can do with your own two hands,” he whispered right before he caught Steve’s lips with his own.

**Author's Note:**

> [I write things here too](http://s-horne.tumblr.com/) and I'd love to chat!


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